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Super Bowl XXXVI

"2002 Super Bowl" redirects here. For the Super Bowl that was played at the completion of the 2002 season, see Super Bowl XXXVII.

Super Bowl XXXVI
St. Louis Rams (1)
(NFC)
(14–2)		 New England Patriots (2)
(AFC)
(11–5)
17 20
Head coach:
Mike Martz		 Head coach:
Bill Belichick
1234 Total
STL 30014 17
NE 01433 20
DateFebruary 3, 2002 (2002-02-03)
StadiumLouisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
MVPTom Brady, quarterback
FavoriteRams by 14[1]
RefereeBernie Kukar
Attendance72,922[2]
Hall of Famers
Rams: Isaac Bruce, Marshall Faulk, Orlando Pace, Kurt Warner, Aeneas Williams
Patriots: Ty Law, Richard Seymour
Ceremonies
National anthemMariah Carey
Coin tossGeorge H. W. Bush and Roger Staubach
Halftime showU2
TV in the United States
NetworkFox
AnnouncersPat Summerall, John Madden, Pam Oliver and Ron Pitts
Nielsen ratings40.4
(est. 86.8 million viewers)[3]
Market share61
Cost of 30-second commercial$1.9 million
Radio in the United States
NetworkWestwood One
AnnouncersHoward David, Boomer Esiason, Lesley Visser, John Dockery and James Lofton

Super Bowl XXXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion St. Louis Rams and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2001 season. The underdog Patriots defeated the heavily favored Rams by the score of 20–17.[4][5] It was New England's first Super Bowl championship, and the franchise's first league championship of any kind.[a] The game was also notable for snapping the AFC East's long streak of not being able to win a Super Bowl championship, as the division's teams had lost 7 Super Bowls between the Miami Dolphins' victory in 1974 and the Patriots' 2002 win. This was the last Super Bowl to feature the St. Louis Rams; after relocating to Los Angeles in 2016, the Rams returned to the NFL's championship game in Super Bowl LIII, in which they were again defeated by the Patriots. The Rams would not win another Super Bowl until Super Bowl LVI, as the Los Angeles Rams, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals.

The game was played at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 3, 2002. Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 earlier in the season, the NFL postponed a week of regular-season games and moved the league's playoff schedule back. As a result, Super Bowl XXXVI was rescheduled from the original date of January 27 to February 3, becoming the first Super Bowl played in February. The pregame ceremonies and the halftime show headlined by the Irish rock band U2 honored the victims of 9/11. Due to heightened security measures following the attacks, this was the first Super Bowl designated as a National Special Security Event (NSSE) by the Office of Homeland Security (OHS). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which replaced the OHS in 2003, later established the practice of naming each subsequent Super Bowl an NSSE. Additionally, it was the last Super Bowl to be played in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city on August 29, 2005; the first since then was Super Bowl XLVII in 2013.

This game marked the Rams' third Super Bowl appearance in franchise history and the second in three seasons. St. Louis posted an NFL-best 14–2 regular season record, led by quarterback Kurt Warner and "The Greatest Show on Turf" offense. The Patriots clinched their third Super Bowl berth after posting an 11–5 regular season record, led by second-year quarterback and first-year starter Tom Brady and a defense that ended the regular season ranked sixth in scoring.

Although the Rams out-gained the Patriots 427–267 in total yards, New England built a 17–3 third-quarter lead off three Rams turnovers. After a holding penalty in the fourth quarter negated a Patriots fumble return for a touchdown, Warner scored a 2-yard touchdown run and threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to tie the game, 17–17, with 1:30 remaining. Without any timeouts, Brady led his team down the field to set up kicker Adam Vinatieri's game-winning 48-yard field goal as time expired. Brady, who completed 16 of 27 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown, was named Super Bowl MVP. With the Rams being 14-point favorites, it was the biggest upset in a Super Bowl since Super Bowl III and, as of the 2022 season, the biggest upset since the AFL–NFL merger. Many media outlets regard this Super Bowl as one of the best Super Bowls of all time, and one of the most historically significant Super Bowls due to its finale that launched the New England Patriots dynasty.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] During the NFL's 100th anniversary, this game was ranked as No. 20 of the NFL's Greatest Games of all time.[14]

  1. ^ "America's Favorite Game: the Super Bowl". NFL.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. January 21, 2013. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  2. ^ "Super Bowl XXXVI: New England 20, St. Louis 17". NFL.com. National Football League. February 4, 2002. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  3. ^ "Historical Super Bowl Nielsen TV Ratings, 1967–2009 – Ratings". TVbytheNumbers. Archived from the original on February 8, 2010. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  4. ^ Cafardo, Nick (February 4, 2002). "Patriots shock NFL, defeat Rams to win Super Bowl". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  5. ^ Silver, Michael (February 11, 2002). "No-name Patriots stun Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI". Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  6. ^ Kyed, Doug (December 2, 2016). "How Patriots, Not Rams, Became NFL Dynasty Of 2000s After Super Bowl XXXVI". NESN.com. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  7. ^ DeArdo, Bryan (February 11, 2022). "10 most consequential Super Bowls of all time: Here's a revised look at the games that changed history". CBSSports.com. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  8. ^ Cartelli, Lance (February 14, 2022). "Ranking every Super Bowl, from worst to first". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  9. ^ Pickard, Ryan (October 27, 2009). "Super Bowl XXXVI: A Moment That Inspired a Nation". Bleacher Report. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  10. ^ Thomas, Jim (February 3, 2022). "19 years ago: Tom Brady and the Patriots shocked the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl. Mike Martz vowed: 'We'll be back.'". STLtoday.com. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  11. ^ Buchmasser, Bernd (February 3, 2022). "20 years ago, a dynasty was born". www.patspulpit.com. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  12. ^ Morin, Richard (February 3, 2022). "Birth of a dynasty: Remembering Tom Brady's first Super Bowl win 20 years later". USA TODAY Sports Plus. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  13. ^ Bobage, Jacob (February 3, 2019). "The Super Bowl that launched the Patriots' dynasty and ended the Rams' 'Greatest Show on Turf'". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  14. ^ "'NFL 100 Greatest' Games, No. 20: Pats' dynasty is born vs. Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI". NFL.com. Retrieved August 5, 2022.


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